Italian aid group accuses government of ignoring plight of Afghan staff

Italian international aid organization Emergency on Monday accused the Italian government of "inconceivable disinterest" in the plight of one of its Afghan employees reportedly facing the death penalty in Afghanistan.

It also accused the Afghan government of breaching human rights, the Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported.

Emergency worker Rahmatullah Hanefi, an Afghan national, is charged by the Afghan authorities with colluding with the Taliban and aiding in the murder of Afghan interpreter and journalist Adjmal Nashkbandi.

Hanefi helped mediate the release of Daniele Mastrogiacomo, an Italian journalist kidnapped by the Taliban near the southern Afghan city of Lashkar Gah in March in exchange for five Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government. But the Italian journalist's interpreter, Nashkbandi, was slain on April 8.

Hanefi was seized by Afghan security forces a day after Mastrogiacomo's release and Emergency has been battling for his release ever since.

He is currently in prison in the Afghan capital of Kabul but his family, Emergency staff and lawyers have been denied access to him.

Corriere della Sera said that Hanefi, who is the head of personnel and security at Emergency's hospital in Lashkar Gah, is accused of handing over Nashkbandi to a Taliban group instead of ensuring that he was released along with Mastrogiacomo.

The deal to free the Italian involved Nashkbandi's simultaneous release.

The Corriere della Sera article quoted Afghan officials as saying that the gravity of the accusations against Hanefi meant he is not entitled to legal assistance and faces the death penalty if found guilty.

Emergency said on Monday that the accusations against Hanefi were "ridiculous" and "unbelievable," stressing that Hanefi had acted as mediator in the Mastrogiacomo case at the request of the Italian government.